The spices are not set in stone. I discovered I'd run out of mustard seeds so I used cumin seeds instead but not as much. The texture of the seeds in the pickle is nice, they pop pleasantly in the mouth.

Oh these look and sound delicious, you make all the sorts of foods that I love, so will have to give these a try.Congrats on the continued weightloss, easy does it and then it will stay off. Belated birthday greetings for your son too.HugsSandi x

No processing with these either? I would like to know who in the U.S. decided that we needed to make all of this more difficult. Once again I thank you for teaching me something new and easier than I have ever done it.

oooooooooooo my mum used to make this every year, I remember travelling back on the national express coach to my digs when I was a student laden down with jars of it, i loved it so much!Might have to try making my own now I'm a Grown Up!xxxxxxxxxxxxx

I am just getting round to making this - only six years late! When you serve these pickles do you drain a quantity for everyone or do you let each person fish their own out of the jar.? What draining implement/method do you use? Is the jar you use 1 litre or 1.5 litres? For 1lb of cucumber do you use 5 or 10 fl oz vinegar - I've found notes of both on your blog, perhaps at different times. Thanks very much.

Hi Nicky, I made some of these pickles just the other day, they're a real favourite. We just dig in with a fork and let them drain a bit from the fork. For 1lb of cucumber I find a large 800g mayonnaise jar about right. Two smaller ones are fine too -size isn't that critical. The quantity of vinegar is 5 fl oz as stated in the recipe (I don't remember writing 10 fl oz anywhere but if I did I was wrong -Sorry!). I hope you enjoy your pickles.